Gems from the Scriptures

Touching the Hem of His Garment

Matthew 9:20–22 “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

cp Mark 5:24-34 and Luke 8:42-48

I would like to start another series of videos called “Gems from the Scripture”. I call this one “The Hem of His Garment”.

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story of a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. She had spent all of her money on physicians and the problem only got worse we are told. Then when she had heard of Jesus and she came behind him and touched the hem His garment. Luke says the border of His garment. For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment I shall be whole. The result of which is that she was healed and Jesus proclaims, “thy faith hath make thee whole”. Wow, what a wonderful and powerful demonstration of faith.

Now, before we go any further we must be clear on the Bible teaching of faith. The greek word for faith is pistis and is a noun, the verb form is pisteou which means believe. So faith is what you believe and what you believe is your faith. But the Bible doesn’t describe faith as just believing anything nor does it insist on how strongly you believe something. You see, Biblical faith is believing God’s word, not making up what you want to believe and believe it strong enough.

Faith cometh by hearing, Paul says in Romans 10 Hearing what? and hearing by the Word of God. That’s biblical faith and that’s the faith that this woman had for it says, she said within herself or believed. But it says she touched the border of His garment. Where in the Word of God did she get that idea? Did she just make it up and believe it strongly? Did she think, if I just touch this miracle worker, I’ll be healed? No, the whole crowd thought Jesus was a miracle worker and was bumping into Him, but as far as we know, no one else was healed of anything for touching Jesus. No, this women knew a promise in the Word of God that she believed and acted upon.

Malachi 4:2 “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise With healing in his wings; ...

The Sun of righteousness is obviously the Messiah, YAHWEH, and the Hebrew word for wings is kanape which can mean wings but it also can mean skirt, hem, or edge, and is translated such numerous times.

So this woman knew and believed this verse, believing that there is healing in the hem of Messiah. And she not only believed that she would be healed by touching Jesus’s garment, but she believed Jesus was the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness. So, touching Messiah’s hem that’s what would heal her. And Jesus knew this, hence He says “her faith”, her belief that there is healing in Messiah’s hem AND that He is the Messiah, is what made her whole. For many in Israel thought that Jesus was a prophet sent from God, but few believed that He was the Christ, the Son of God.

That’s what Jesus wanted everyone to know. How cool is that.

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